


Untrue Reflections

by Shadeyrain



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Developing Relationship, Family Drama, Family Fluff, Humanstuck, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-06-09
Updated: 2013-06-10
Packaged: 2017-12-14 10:05:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/835690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadeyrain/pseuds/Shadeyrain
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When you love somebody, you will abandon everything you stand for just to be noticed.</p><p>Karkat, secret harlequin romancer and hopeless romantic, find's little pride that he loves to watch romantic comedies to relax and needs a good dime-novel before bed. </p><p>Hiding it seems the only way to keep the little prankster, John Egbert, from torturing the sanity out of him. </p><p>But will that path ever bring them together?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Unexpected News

       What was wrong with him? He sat quietly in his computer chair. The illuminated computer screen was just that much more dramatic in the darkness of his room, where he, Karkat Vantas, stared at the little, harmless blue words in his pesterchum window. The dorky smiley faces innocently grinned at him. His capped letters seemed garish and immature next to his casually typed responses. Why did John Egbert have to be so sweet and dorky and plain? He was a normal guy who had a preference for action adventure movies and pranking people and terrible magic tricks. He didn't even try to impress him, John was only being himself. But Karkat tried so hard. Every word so thought out, only the least embarrassing interests to make conversation with. He sighed and grounded his palm into his forehead. The noise he made was near monstrous, something between a groan and a yell of anger. What was his problem!? He glanced guiltily at the stack of harlequin romance novels on his desk, the many romcom DVD s needing to be put into cases. That was him as much as crime fighting and rebel leading was. He liked politics, rights for the underprivileged and things, but if only he could show John his dopey romance blog along side his stupid social rights blog. But he never could. John wouldn't understand. Karkat let the worry of his brow grind into a plain frown of anger, and stood to leave his room, seeking an outlet for his anger.  
       Outside, he witnessed his older brother standing in the hallway, furiously typing away on his iphone. His bright red sweater gathered strangely at his crotch, but then Karkat remembered that Kankri had found the wonders of those imbecilic fanny packs. Karkat glared blandly at him as he passed, but Kankri ignored his younger brother's silent judgment. On the other side of house, in the kitchen, he could smell a wonderful wafting of soup overcome him. Mother Mariam was cooking again, it seemed. He wandered in that direction, but instead ran into his father first.  
       “Ah! Karkat, good. I was wondering when I would see you next. You must have smelled Mother's cooking.” His father was towering, a few pieces of mail in his hands as he smiled from the buffet in the hall between the kitchen and the living room. The tiny chandelier that cast yellow light down over him made him seem warm, a heavenly glow hanging behind. His friendly, businessman face had a good three months worth of beard grown on it, making him seem like a friendly, business woodsman. He guffawed at the expression frozen on Karkat's face after seeing his upbeat mood.  
       “Father.” He grumbled, and blinked unbelieving at him. But it wasn't only his good mood. It was that he was even seeing his father at all. Under normal circumstances, his father was not home. His father was out preaching, giving food to sick children, whatever he could do to help the community. But he was not at home. Karkat thought his shocked expression was warranted.  
       “Come, son! Let us sit in the kitchen and talk. I have news!” He grinned, and set the mail down in the little wire holder meant just for it. Karkat hesitated.  
       “News? You....you have news?” Father Vantas guided his son into the next room and chuckled as Mother Mariam turned from the stove. The kitchen had a small island in the middle, decorated with tiny flowers and wooden trinkets. He took a seat in the bar stool shoved by it, and waited for his father to get to business.  
       “Mother! I can't thank you enough for making dinner for us tonight. I'm sure it's been years since these boys have had a good old fashioned home cooked meal.”  
       “Actually, Mister Vantas, they did in fact have one just last Sunday.” A dainty girl commented from the dinner table off to the side. Father Vantas smiled at her, and waited for a better explaination, knowing he would receive one.  
       “Yes,” Mother Mariam chuckled, plucking a Betty Crocker cake up from it's resting place on the island. She was the closest thing Karkat had known of a mother. Mother Mariam was a plump darling, with wide, child-bearing hips and a defined waist where her apron was tied neatly in a bow. Her hair was starting to gray a tiny bit with that short, crazy hair style that older women sported to look less fragile. Though only beginning menopause, Mother Mariam was a healthy as a horse(which she had a hobby for) and used to take care of whatever younger person she was around. She returned to her explanation after placing the cake she had baked for them yesterday on the counter. “I've been visiting quite often to feed the boys, since Kanaya get's lonely at home and loves taking Karkat to the library after school so often. They were practically welded at the hip a few months ago!” Kanaya, the younger girl at the dinner table, giggled and gave Karkat a knowing look. The aforementioned joining of hips had been when their favorite author had just released the newest in a series of smutty romance novels, one that both he and Kanaya had a passion for. They read a chapter a night, or more, and always got together to talk about it, like their own little book club. Karkat felt a disgruntlement overcome his absolute imbecile personality, something John Egbert would loathe. He felt so stupid. What type of dumb ass would accidentally create his own cute little book club to talk about stupid trashy porn novels? With his practical sister, even! He rubbed his eyes over and over, almost like he was trying to meditate. Before the conversation could progress into that area, he finally confronted his father.  
       “So you had news, Father?” His father perked at the subject, and gave a grin that only his brother could match.  
       “Yes! Dolly here has decided to move somewhere new, and I think it would be best if we followed her daring lead!” Karkat's mood dropped to the pit of his stomach. Move? Move where? He gulped as Kankri, his intrusive brother, sauntered in, Iphone tucked into his fannypack and hands placed firmly on his narrow hips.  
       “If I may cut in on your conversation, as ultimately satisfying as it is to me that we are headed to Washington in a week, I have to ask if...” Karkat's mind blared with ringing alarms and glorious chorus of halleluiah. Washington! The state of dismay where it rained twenty-four-seven and where John Egbert was allowed to be his almost illegally dorkish self! Karkat's heart sped in a flurry. He would be, in a week, only hours(maybe minutes!) away from John Egbert and nothing would stop him from seeing that adorable grin every other day, in person, with his skin just moments away from his fingertips. Just the thought of it put Karkat on edge, and weighted for Kankri's unnecessarily long request to come to end. “Therefore, if we could only allow for departure on Tuesday to be delayed by an hour we will not miss saying goodbye to Miss Mariam before we leave.” Karkat saw from the corner of his eye Kanaya, who flinched every time the family member was mentioned by his older brother. Karkat glared at him. The Mariam that Kankri was ranting about saying goodbye to was Kanaya's mother, Porrim. Mother Mariam was Kanaya's grandmother, and Porrim was the daughter who ran off in her teens to have unashamed sex with every man she could find, and consequently ended up with Kanaya about around the time Karkat had also been born. During her pregnancy, Porrim spent a lot of time around Kankri. He had been young at the time, only about as old as Karkat. And Karkat was not sure he could handle a child at his 17 years of age. Kankri attached to the older woman, although not yet legal or educated with women. And after all this time, of looking after Karkat and seeing Kanaya grow up, Kankri still couldn't let go of Porrim. He lived, knowing Porrim would find her gender equality, each and every night in a different bed, and he was okay with it. Or so he seemed. But Kankri was probably the only one in the room who was still in good graces with the girl. Kanaya winced at every mention of the mother she didn't know, and Mother Mariam clenched her fragile jaw at the memories of what she'd done to the family without realizing it.  
       Father Vantas gently pat his son's shoulder and sighed. He had every idea what the woman meant to Kankri, but it was not his job to cater to his son in his warped, unhealthy love for her. Besides, a plane would not wait for star-crossed love. He explained all this too his son, who's hopes fell gracefully. He knew what was coming. That was just Kankri's personality. He would ask anyway, because it was the most effective way to let his father know he wasn't very optimistic about leaving.  
       “So, Karkat, what do you feel about this new, unexpected change?” He turned to the boy and smiled, hoping more out of his younger son. Karkat winced, and then shrugged.  
       “It's not like I've got friends here anyway. Won't affect me much, I guess.” The urge to jump and holler happy curses at the top of his lungs made it painful to sit still. Karkat mussed his tangled black hair and jumped out of his chair. He mumbled something about wanting to leave now so they could just get it over with, just as an extra layer of distance between seeming excited and being indifferent. As soon as he was out of sight, he rushed to his room to tell Egbert his good news in as terrible a way as he could manage.


	2. Washington, Baby!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (whispers)Sorry it's so short. I'll make the next chapter longer!

       Karkat watched all the people running around, lifting his things, not-so-gently letting most of it crash to the ground. It was all so exciting, but also nerve-wrecking. Kankri ran around, directing the moving men with as many words as possible, sometimes confusing them as they placed the kitchen boxes in the bathroom and the buffet-table in the middle of the living room. Karkat had already picked two men out, someone who looked most reliable, and had them take his personal items to the room he picked as his own. It faced to the house on the left of them, a sky blue Victorian with white shutters and two stories. There was one room near his window, and a door that led to a small gazebo in the back. He noticed the telescope perched at the rail for star-gazing. He wondered how bright the stars would be here.

       “No! Don't put that there, oh no no!” He heard Kankri shout as they dropped his prized wardrobe in the mud. Karkat chuckled under his breathe. He was a happy kid. His father was already down the street talking to a neighbor, and his things were safe in his new room. At the back of his mind he held his blue texted friend, but tried not to think about it until he was safely in his room and could talk to him about it.

 

       As long as it took to get everything in the house, Karkat was actually surprised the boxes were all mostly in the right places. He scanned most of the scrawl on the cardboard boxes, but Kankri wouldn't let him touch anything. Everybody knew he would be doing most of the putting away, as far as the rest of the house went. He did all the housework, from cleaning to putting away dishes. Karkat and their father would have to just get use to his system of putting things away. Karkat let Kankri get to work, because he knew his brother lived for this kind of thing. He trudged to his room.

        He grunted as he heaved open the door, which stuck in the door frame like it hadn't been opened in years. He had no idea if it had been opened in so long a time. His things had been just dumped, but at least they weren't hard to move around. He looked about, and decided he liked where they had placed his desk. It stood against the far wall, to the right of the window on that wall. He spotted an outlet and power strip under it. A box labeled “electronics” was resting on top, still neatly packaged away. On the right wall his mattress and box-springs were against the closet door, and a few boxes were piled around them on the hardwood floor. The bed frame had been shoved in the left far corner, and he frowned. His entertainment center was on the opposite wall, near the door. He grumbled. Rolling his eyes, he moved a few boxes away and then pulled the end of the bed out towards the middle of the room. He shoved the head of the bed against the left wall, just under the second window that gave him a wonderful view of the street. He grumbled, and dragged his metal entertainment center into the corner the bed had been in. Perfect.

       Karkat spent the next few hours rearranging his room and unpacking. He hefted his mattresses onto the bedframe, shoving a few misc. boxes under it for later inspection. He uncovered his nice, new flat screen from it's moving blankets, and settled it in it's home. From a box he unearthed his computer, which he immediately set up and booted. It's hum was a familiar thing. His wifi card detected no signal, so he let it go in favor of more unpacking. By the end of the day, his room felt mostly in place.

       He was just placing his alarmclock on his bedside table, along side some of his favorite novels, when he picked up a scent from below. Listening closer, he heard voices and laughter. It sounded like Kanaya and Mother Maryam had arrived. He detected the deeper voice of his father as well. He sighed in exasperation, and stood to leave the room. But it was just then when he heard the unfamiliar doorbell, a chiming like some schoolyard song. It hurt his ears.

“I'll get it!” He heard his father announce. Karkat followed the stairwell and was just in time to witness his father opening the wooden door, a grin on his face as that of a neighborly entourage stood outside.

“Good Evening!” His father greeted. The man before the door gave a graciously polite smile.

“Nice to meet you, Mrs. Vantas. My family and I would like to welcome you to the neighborhood.” The man, his slacks and button-down shirt immaculately clean, held out a large tin with a small red emblem on the front. He chewed on a ebony pipe, and moved away to introduce his family.

“This is my son.” He moved aside, and revealed his only son.


	3. Heir and Son

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm experimenting with the formatting on Ao3 still. Sorry if it changes often. (Though, i promise not to make it to glaringly shitty)

The neighborhood was splendid, his father spouted. It had four houses on each side, most some bland variant of their two story dump-hut. There was a public school a few miles away, one short car ride away. Another private school was closer, but much more expensive. Kankri had decided to attend there, since Father had enough money to his name. Karkat opted to be prude and go to the public school(home of the Crow's, yay.), which turned out to be number one football and soccer teams in the area. Great, jock school. Karkat knew there would be drawbacks to his situation, but that one, smokey hope that wrapped around his heart kept him optimistic.

But not this optimistic.

 

This was kind of startling. It made him uneasy.

 

Who knew he would be staring, face to face, into the wide blue eyes of his dorkish friend, John Egbert, before even getting completely settled into the dumpy house or pestering him through text or IM. He was even grinning that completely innocent grin he loved so much. But this one was better. It was in real life, right in front of him.

Karkat felt a small smile of his own begin, but he scowled at himself before letting it loose. No, he would not blow the cover he had in front of his dorkish friend. But he could feel the sparkle in his eyes. The happiness leaked into them.

“Karkat!” His wild, toothy grin grew wider as he ran into the house and threw his arms around the shorter boys shoulders. Oh, god. He was a hugger. Karkat snarled and threw him off violently.

“Get off me you fucking oaf, I'm allergic to the stench of moronic cake-eating shitstains!” Karkat felt the silence immediately after he spoke. It wasn't long, just enough of a moment for the reactions to take place, but no words yet. They would come the very next moment, but time slowed for him. Dad Egbert gave a small puff of the chest, slightly appalled by the youngster who just moved in. His own Daddy Vantas frowned and almost opened his mouth to reprimand his son. But it was John who tipped the shocked scale. His grin turned sour, and he was the first to speak.

“You eat just as many cake's as I'm forced to, dumb ass. I'm sure as soon as I leave the building you'll be shoveling this thing down your throat without even tasting it!” The snark he felt in John's words put him at ease. It was suddenly apparent that they knew each other enough to insult one another. The adults relaxed, and Father Vantas took the offered cake, the Betty Crocker emblem gleaming.

“Either our son's make friends fast, or it's a spectacular miracle that they already knew each other.”

“Heh heh,” John pulled a 180 and smiled to the taller man, shrugging indifferently. “Just luck, I guess! Karkat use to bully me on the internet, but then he told me we should be friends and so we are! I'm not sure how it happened, but I'm glad it did, because he's one of the best friends I've ever had!” Karkat watched as his father's eyes widened with each word the boy spoke, by the end his chin held in pride for he son he neglected. But, like the white that contrasted Father Vantas's frequently black wardrobe, Dad Egbert frowned at Karkat. He didn't seem to like the sound of it.

“Well, why don't you boys go play upstairs then? I would like to chat with Mr. Egbert, if that's fine?” Father Vantas glanced at the man in white, and he nodded. John jumped enthusiastically and turned back to his shorter friend.

“Yeah! Show me your room! Stat!” John nearly bull-dozed him on his way to the staircase. Karkat grumbled, and stomped up the stairs where John stood excitedly at the top rail.

“Calm your shit, Egbert. I just moved in, give my a god damn break.” John ringed him for another hug when he finally trudged to the top step, and then dragged his ass into the room on the left.

“Karkat I'm so excited! I finally met you and you're just as tough in real life and fucking amazing and wow is this really your room?!” John babbled, but then unlatched to admire the messy as fuck room.

“Uh, yeah.” He felt uneasy as John clamored around the room. Thank god he only uncovered two of his romance novels, and all his romcom's were tucked under the bed. But it was more than the feeling that John might find out all his secrets. It was that he wanted the dorky boys approval. He seemed to already have it, considering his room, but it was more than even that. He studied the mess of bedhead on John's scalp, the way his square frames had slipped from his nose. His big blue eyes sparkling in fascination. Karkat felt a flush spread on his face. The way things were going, watching John silently while he babbled and giggled like some schoolgirl, god. Karkat felt like the main protagonist in some stupid romcom.

Then John stopped and looked at him. His smile faltered, turning a bit more serious. He looked at his feet, then sat down on his bed.

“So what school did you choose to go too? I know your dad's loaded or something.” Karkat shook himself out of it. John just wanted to talk, what was wrong with him? He was disgusted with himself, as he shut the sticky door and then casually stepped towards him. John didn't want some stupid high school romance, some ironic best bro love, or anything like that. Karkat told himself sternly not to get so dramatic about everything. But he still studied John as he sat down on the bed. This was, of course their first time ever meeting each other. It was different from pesterchum. He wanted to know how John held himself, his natural being. So he still studied him. John leaned back on one arm, friendly smile waiting for a reply. He looked utterly comfortable. And god damn, could his eyes look any bigger under those dark eyelashes? Karkat swallowed and then scowled.

“Kankri's going to the snob school. I'm going to the public school.” He sneered at his brother's name, before flopping onto his mattress.

“That's great! You get to meet all my friends oh my god wow this is going to be amazing! Now everybody is here!” Karkat watched at the dork grinned and flailed in excitement, thinking about how lucky he was to even know a kid like that. But like his typical, shit-eating conscience remembered, he wished he could just be himself around the kid. Opening up was definitely something he couldn't do. After today, Karkat knew he would go to all lengths to make his room off limits to the dork in blue.

“Who are you even talking about? That lame-ass hipster, or the crazy fuck you call a cousin?” He couldn't recall the girls name, but he pretty much knew the hipster like the back of his hand. John could go on and on about Dave Strider when they talked. The “cool-kid” like to wear shades at all times, rapping about apple juice or other equally “ironic” things, and something about puppets. He had a freaky older brother/gaurdian, and drew shitty comics(a whole website that Karkat sat down and cracked up over because it was that fucking terrible).

“Yeah! Dave and Jade and Rose! They are my closest friends beside you. But also Vriska and Terezi, or Tav or just wow I have so many friends!” He jittered excitedly, before sitting up straight and crossing his legs Indian-style.

“Wow, don't have a god damn orgasm on my fucking bed, Egbert. I don't want to fucking sleep in your spunk, jesus.” Karkat grimaced at himself. He didn't want to think about any of that shit yet. He knew he would, but not in front of the Egbert himself. That would be too weird, and yes, he would feel incredibly guilty. He would be no better than the meatheads he went to school with in Virginia.

“Fuck you! I'm just so happy to finally have all my friends here and stuff! You're going to love it here!”

 

Karkat really hoped he wasn't wrong.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry it's short! I'm not sure this will be worth reading, but I hope you could take the time to help me improve! <3


End file.
